CAN   I   SIT   UP   HERE   BESIDE   YOU? 


Iber 

jfirst  Hppearance 

IRicbarb  TbarMng  | 

Author  of"  Van  Bibber,  and  Others' 
"Princess  Aline"  etc, 

ILLUSTRATED  BY 

C.  D.  GIBSON  AND  E.  M.  ASHE 


NEW    YORK   AND    LONDON 
HARPER  &  BROTHERS  PUBLISHERS 

MCMI 


Copyright,  1892,  1901,  by  HARPER  &  BROTHERS. 

All  rights  reserved. 


••51 


Illustrations 


'  CAN     I      SIT     UP      HERE      BESIDE 

YOU  ?'  " Frontispiece 

BUT    HE    KNEW     THAT    WAS    NOT 

THE   REASON"      *      ....   Facing  p.       18 

'  YOU    HAVE    TRIED    ME    VERY 

SORELY'" "         40 


Dcr  ffirst  appearance 


1ber  jfirst  Hppearance 

IT  was  at  the  end  of  the  first  act 
of  the  first  night  of  "  The  Sultana," 
and  every  member  of  the  Lester 
Comic  Opera  Company,  from  Lester 
himself  down  to  the  wardrobe  wo 
man's  son,  who  would  have  had  to 
work  if  his  mother  lost  her  place, 
was  sick  with  anxiety. 

There  is  perhaps  only  one  other 
place  as  feverish  as  it  is  behind  the 
scenes  on  the  first  night  of  a  comic 
opera,  and  that  is  a  newspaper  office 
on  the  last  night  of  a  Presidential 
campaign,  when  the  returns  are 
being  flashed  on  the  canvas  outside, 
and  the  mob  is  howling,  and  the 
editor-in-chief  is  expecting  to  go  to 
the  Court  of  St.  James  if  the  election 

3 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 

comes  his  way,  and  the  office-boy  is 
betting  his  wages  that  it  won't. 

Such  nights  as  these  try  men's 
souls;  but  Van  Bibber  passed  the 
stage-door  man  with  as  calmly  polite 
a  nod  as  though  the  piece  had  been 
running  a  hundred  nights,  and  the 
manager  was  thinking  up  souvenirs 
for  the  one  hundred  and  fiftieth, 
and  the  prima  donna  had,  as  usual, 
begun  to  hint  for  a  new  set  of 
costumes.  The  stage-door  keeper 
hesitated  and  was  lost,  and  Van  Bib 
ber  stepped  into  the  unsuppressed 
excitement  of  the  place  with  a 
pleased  sniff  at  the  familiar  smell  of 
paint  and  burning  gas,  and  the  dusty 
odor  that  came  from  the  scene-lofts 
above. 

For  a  moment  he  hesitated  in 
the  cross-lights  and  confusion  about 
him,  failing  to  recognize  in  their 
new  costumes  his  old  acquaintances 
of  the  company ;  but  he  saw  Kripps, 
the  stage-manager,  in  the  centre  of 

4 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 

the  stage,  perspiring  and  in  his  shirt 
sleeves  as  always,  wildly  waving  an 
arm  to  some  one  in  the  flies,  and 
beckoning  with  the  other  to  the  gas 
man  in  the  front  entrance.  The 
stage  hands  were  striking  the  scene 
for  the  first  act,  and  fighting  with 
the  set  for  the  second,  and  dragging 
out  a  canvas  floor  of  tessellated  mar 
ble,  and  running  a  throne  and  a  prac 
tical  pair  of  steps  over  it,  and  aiming 
the  high  quaking  walls  of  a  palace 
and  abuse  at  whoever  came  in  their 
way. 

"  Now  then,  Van  Bibber,"  shouted 
Kripps,  with  a  wild  glance  of  recog 
nition,  as  the  white-and-black  figure 
came  towards  him,  "  you  know 
you  're  the  only  man  in  New  York 
who  gets  behind  here  to-night.  But 
you  can't  stay.  Lower  it,  lower  it, 
can't  you  ?"  This  to  the  man  in 
the  flies.  "  Any  other  night  goes, 
but  not  this  night.  I  can't  have  it. 
I —  Where  is  the  backing  for  the 

5 


t 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 


centre  entrance  ?  Didn  't  I  tell  you 
men — " 

Van  Bibber  dodged  two  stage 
hands  who  were  steering  a  scene  at 
him,  stepped  over  the  carpet  as  it 
unrolled,  and  brushed  through  a 
group  of  anxious,  whispering  chorus 
people  into  the  quiet  of  the  star's 
dressing-room. 

The  star  saw  him  in  the  long  mirror 
before  which  he  sat,  while  his  dresser 
(\  tugged  at  his  boots,  and  threw  up 

his  hands  desperately. 

(/  "  Well,"  he  cried,  in  mock  resig 

nation,  "  are  we  in  it  or  are  we  not  ? 
Are  they  in  their  seats  still  or  have 
they  fled  ?" 

"  How  are  you,  John  ?  "  said  Van 
Bibber  to  the  dresser.  Then  he 
dropped  into  a  big  arm-chair  in  the 
corner,  and  got  up  again  with  a  pro 
testing  sigh  to  light  his  cigar  between 
the  wires  around  the  gas-burner. 
"  Oh,  it  's  going  very  well.  I 
would  n't  have  come  around  if  it 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 


was  n't.  If  the  rest  of  it  is  as  good 
as  the  first  act,  you  need  n't  worry." 
Van  Bibber's  unchallenged  free 
dom  behind  the  scenes  had  been  a 
source  of  much  comment  and  per 
plexity  to  the  members  of  the  Lester 
Comic  Opera  Company.  He  had 
made  his  first  appearance  there  dur 
ing  one  hot  night  of  the  long  run  of 
the  previous  summer,  and  had  con 
tinued  to  be  an  almost  nightly  visitor 
for  several  weeks.  At  first  it  was 
supposed  that  he  was  backing  the 
piece,  that  he  was  the  "  Angel,"  as 
those  weak  and  wealthy  individuals 
are  called  who  allow  themselves  to 
be  led  into  supplying  the  finances 
for  theatrical  experiments.  But  as 
he  never  peered  through  the  curtain- 
hole  to  count  the  house,  nor  made 
frequent  trips  to  the  front  of  it  to 
look  at  the  box  sheet,  but  was,  on 
the  contrary,  just  as  undisturbed  on 
a  rainy  night  as  on  those  when  the 
"'  standing  room  only  "  sign  blocked 

7 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 

the  front  entrance,  this  supposition 
was  discarded  as  untenable.  Nor 
did  he  show  the  least  interest  in  the 
prima  donna,  or  in  any  of  the  other 
pretty  women  of  the  company;  he 
did  not  know  them,  nor  did  he  make 
any  effort  to  know  them,  and  it  was 
not  until  they  inquired  concerning 
him  outside  of  the  theatre  that  they 
learned  what  a  figure  in  the  social 
life  of  the  city  he  really  was.  He 
spent  most  of  his  time  in  Lester's 
dressing-room  smoking,  listening  to 
the  reminiscences  of  Lester's  dresser 
when  Lester  was  on  the  stage;  and 
this  seclusion  and  his  clerical  attire 
of  evening  dress  led  the  second 
comedian  to  call  him  Lester's  father 
confessor,  and  to  suggest  that  he 
came  to  the  theatre  only  to  take  the 
star  to  task  for  his  sins.  And  in  this 
the  second  comedian  was  unknow 
ingly  not  so  very  far  wrong.  Lester, 
the  comedian,  and  young  Van  Bib 
ber  had  known  each  other  at  the 
8 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 

university,  when  Lester's  voice  and 
gift  of  mimicry  had  made  him  the 
leader  in  the  college  theatricals ;  and 
later,  when  he  had  gone  upon  the 
stage,  and  had  been  cut  off  by  his 
family  even  after  he  had  become 
famous,  or  on  account  of  it,  Van 
Bibber  had  gone  to  visit  him,  and 
had  found  him  as  simple  and  sincere 
and  boyish  as  he  had  been  in  the 
days  of  his  Hasty-Pudding  successes. 
And  Lester,  for  his  part,  had  found 
Van  Bibber  as  likable  as  did  every 
one  else,  and  welcomed  his  quiet 
voice  and  youthful  knowledge  of  the 
world  as  a  grateful  relief  to  the  bois 
terous  camaraderie  of  his  professional 
acquaintances.  And  he  allowed  Van 
Bibber  to  scold  him,  and  to  remind 
him  of  what  he  owed  to  himself,  and 
to  touch,  even  whether  it  hurt  or 
not,  upon  his  better  side.  And  in 
time  he  admitted  to  finding  his 
friend's  occasional  comments  on 
stage  matters  of  value  as  coming 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 

from  the  point  of  view  of  those  who 
look  on  at  the  game;  and  even 
Kripps,  the  veteran,  regarded  him 
with  respect  after  he  had  told  him 
that  he  could  turn  a  set  of  purple 
costumes  black  by  throwing  a  red 
light  on  them.  To  the  company, 
after  he  came  to  know  them,  he  was 
gravely  polite,  and,  to  those  who 
knew  him  if  they  had  overheard, 
amusingly  commonplace  in  his  con 
versation.  He  understood  them 
better  than  they  did  themselves,  and 
made  no  mistakes.  The  women 
smiled  on  him,  but  the  men  were 
suspicious  and  shy  of  him  until  they 
saw  that  he  was  quite  as  shy  of  the 
women ;  and  then  they  made  him  a 
confidant,  and  told  him  all  their 
woes  and  troubles,  and  exhibited  all 
their  little  jealousies  and  ambitions, 
in  the  innocent  hope  that  he  would 
repeat  what  they  said  to  Lester. 
They  were  simple,  unconventional, 
light-hearted  folk,  and  Van  Bibber 
10 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 

found  them  vastly  more  entertaining 
and  preferable  to  the  silence  of  the 
deserted  club,  where  the  matting 
was  down,  and  from  whence  the 
regular  habitues  had  departed  to  the 
other  side  or  to  Newport.  He  liked 
the  swing  of  the  light,  bright  music 
as  it  came  to  him  through  the  open 
door  of  the  dressing-room,  and  the 
glimpse  he  got  of  the  chorus  people 
crowding  and  pushing  for  a  quick 
charge  up  the  iron  stairway,  and 
the  feverish  smell  of  oxygen  in  the 
air,  and  the  picturesque  disorder  of 
Lester's  wardrobe,  and  the  wigs  and 
swords,  and  the  mysterious  articles 
of  make-up,  all  mixed  together  on  a 
tray  with  half-finished  cigars  and 
autograph  books  and  newspaper 
"  notices." 

And  he  often  wished  he  was  clever 
enough  to  be  an  artist  with  the  talent 
to  paint  the  unconsciously  graceful 
groups  in  the  sharply  divided  light 
and  shadow  of  the  wings  as  he  saw 
ii 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 

them.  The  brilliantly  colored,  fan 
tastically  clothed  girls  leaning  against 
the  bare  brick  wall  of  the  theatre,  or 
whispering  together  in  circles,  with 
their  arms  close  about  one  another, 
or  reading  apart  and  solitary,  or 
working  at  some  piece  of  fancy-work 
as  soberly  as  though  they  were  in  a 
rocking-chair  in  their  own  flat,  and 
not  leaning  against  a  scene  brace, 
with  the  glare  of  the  stage  and  the 
applause  of  the  house  just  behind 
them.  He  liked  to  watch  them  co 
quetting  with  the  big  fireman  de 
tailed  from  the  precinct  engine-house, 
and  clinging  desperately  to  the  cur 
tain  wire,  or  with  one  of  the  chorus 
men  on  the  stairs,  or  teasing  the 
phlegmatic  scene-shifters  as  they 
tried  to  catch  a  minute's  sleep  on  a 
pile  of  canvas.  He  even  forgave  the 
prima  donna's  smiling  at  him  from 
the  stage,  as  he  stood  watching  her 
from  the  wings,  and  smiled  back  at 
her  with  polite  cynicism,  as  though 
12 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 

he  did  not  know  and  she  did  not 
know  that  her  smiles  were  not  for 
him,  but  to  disturb  some  more  in 
terested  one  in  the  front  row.  And 
so,  in  time,  the  company  became  so 
well  accustomed  to  him  that  he 
moved  in  and  about  as  unnoticed 
as  the  stage-manager  himself,  who 
prowled  around  hissing  "  hush  "  on 
principle,  even  though  he  was  the 
only  person  who  could  fairly  be  said 
to  be  making  a  noise. 

The  second  act  was  on,  and  Lester 
came  off  the  stage  and  ran  to  the 
dressing  -  room  and  beckoned  vio 
lently.  "  Come  here,"  he  said; 
"  you  ought  to  see  this ;  the  children 
are  doing  their  turn.  You  want  to 
hear  them.  They  're  great!  " 

Van  Bibber  put  his  cigar  into  a 
tumbler  and  stepped  out  into  the 
wings.  They  were  crowded  on  both 
sides  of  the  stage  with  the  members 
of  the  company ;  the  girls  were  tip 
toeing,  with  their  hands  on  the 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 

shoulders  of  the  men,  and  making 
futile  little  leaps  into  the  air  to  get 
a  better  view,  and  others  were  resting 
on  one  knee  that  those  behind  might 
see  over  their  shoulders.  There  were 
over  a  dozen  children  before  the 
footlights,  with  the  prima  donna  in 
the  centre.  She  was  singing  the 
verses  of  a  song,  and  they  were  fol 
lowing  her  movements,  and  joining 
in  the  chorus  with  high  piping  voices. 
They  seemed  entirely  too  much  at 
home  and  too  self-conscious  to  please 
Van  Bibber;  but  there  was  one  ex 
ception.  The  one  exception  was  the 
smallest  of  them,  a  very,  very  little 
girl,  with  long  auburn  hair  and  black 
eyes;  such  a  very  little  girl  that 
every  one  in  the  house  looked  at  her 
first,  and  then  looked  at  no  one  else. 
She  was  apparently  as  unconcerned 
to  all  about  her,  excepting  the  pretty 
prima  donna,  as  though  she  were  by 
a  piano  at  home  practising  a  singing 
lesson.  She  seemed  to  think  it  was 

14 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 

some  new  sort  of  a  game.  When 
the  prima  donna  raised  her  arms,  the 
child  raised  hers;  when  the  prima 
donna  courtesied,  she  stumbled  into 
one,  and  straightened  herself  just  in 
time  to  get  the  curls  out  of  her  eyes, 
and  to  see  that  the  prima  donna  was 
laughing  at  her,  and  to  smile  cheer 
fully  back  as  if  to  say,  "  We  are 
doing  our  best  anyway,  are  n't  we  ?  " 
She  had  big,  gentle  eyes  and  two 
wonderful  dimples,  and  in  the  excite 
ment  of  the  dancing  and  the  singing 
her  eyes  laughed  and  flashed,  and 
the  dimples  deepened  and  disap 
peared  and  reappeared  again.  She 
was  as  happy  and  innocent  looking 
as  though  it  were  nine  in  the  morn 
ing  and  she  were  playing  school  at 
a  kindergarten.  From  all  over  the 
house  the  women  were  murmuring 
their  delight,  and  the  men  were 
laughing  and  pulling  their  mustaches 
and  nudging  each  other  to  "  look  at 
the  littlest  one." 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 

The  girls  in  the  wings  were  raptur 
ous  in  their  enthusiasm,  and  were 
calling  her  absurdly  extravagant 
titles  of  endearment,  and  making  so 
much  noise  that  Kripps  stopped  grin 
ning  at  her  from  the  entrance,  and 
looked  back  over  his  shoulder  as  he 
looked  when  he  threatened  fines  and 
calls  for  early  rehearsal.  And  when 
she  had  finished  finally,  and  the 
prima  donna  and  the  children  ran  off 
together,  there  was  a  roar  from  the 
house  that  went  to  Lester's  head  like 
wine,  and  seemed  to  leap  clear  across 
the  footlights  and  drag  the  children 
back  again. 

'  That  settles  it!  "  cried  Lester, 
in   a   suppressed    roar   of    triumph. 
'  I    knew    that   child   would   catch 
them." 

There  were  four  encores,  and  then 
the  children  and  Elise  Broughten, 
the  pretty  prima  donna,  came  off 
jubilant  and  happy,  with  the  Littlest 
Girl's  arms  full  of  flowers,  which  the 
16 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 

management  had  with  kindly  fore 
thought  prepared  for  the  prima  don 
na,  but  which  that  delightful  young 
person  and  the  delighted  leader  of 
the  orchestra  had  passed  over  to  the 
little  girl. 

'  Well,"  gasped  Miss  Broughten, 
as  she  came  up  to  Van  Bibber  laugh 
ing,  and  with  one  hand  on  her  side 
and  breathing  very  quickly,  "  will 
you  kindly  tell  me  who  is  the  lead 
ing  woman  now  ?  Am  I  the  prima 
donna,  or  am  I  not  ?  I  was  n't  in  it, 
was  I  ?  " 

'  You  were  not,"  said  Van  Bibber. 
He  turned  from  the  pretty  prima 
donna  and  hunted  up  the  wardrobe 
woman,  and  told  her  he  wanted  to 
meet  the  Littlest  Girl.  And  the 
wardrobe  woman,  who  was  fluttering 
wildly  about,  and  as  delighted  as 
though  they  were  all  her  own  chil 
dren,  told  him  to  come  into  the 
property-room,  where  the  children 
were,  and  which  had  been  changed 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 


into  a  dressing-room  that  they  might 
be  by  themselves.  The  six  little 
girls  were  in  six  different  states  of 
dishabille,  but  they  were  too  little  to 
mind  that,  and  Van  Bibber  was  too 
polite  to  observe  it. 

'  This  is  the  little  girl,  sir,"  said 
the  wardrobe  woman,  excitedly, 
proud  at  being  the  means  of  bring 
ing  together  two  such  prominent 
people.  '  Her  name  is  Madeline. 
Speak  to  the  gentleman,  Madeline; 
he  wants  to  tell  you  what  a  great 
big  hit  youse  made." 

The  little  girl  was  seated  on  one  of 
the  cushions  of  a  double  throne  so 
high  from  the  ground  that  the  young 
woman  who  was  pulling  off  the  child's 
silk  stockings  and  putting  woollen 
ones  on  in  their  place  did  so  without 
stooping.  The  young  woman  looked 
at  Van  Bibber  and  nodded  somewhat 
doubtfully  and  ungraciously,  and 
Van  Bibber  turned  to  the  little  girl 
in  preference.  The  young  woman's 
18 


HK    KNEW    THAT   WAS    NOT    THE    REASON1 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 

face  was  one  of  a  type  that  was  too 
familiar  to  be  pleasant. 

He  took  the  Littlest  Girl's  small 
hand  in  his  and  shook  it  solemnly, 
and  said,  "  I  am  very  glad  to  know 
you.  Can  I  sit  up  here  beside  you, 
or  do  you  rule  alone  ?  " 

"Yes,  ma'am — yes,  sir,"  answered 
the  little  girl. 

Van  Bibber  put  his  hands  on  the 
arms  of  the  throne  and  vaulted  up 
beside  the  girl,  and  pulled  out  the 
flower  in  his  button-hole  and  gave  it 
to  her. 

"  Now,"  prompted  the  wardrobe 
woman,  "  what  do  you  say  to  the 
gentleman  ?  " 

"  Thank  you,  sir,"  stammered  the 
little  girl. 

"  She  is  not  much  used  to  gentle 
men's  society,"  explained  the  woman 
who  was  pulling  on  the  stockings. 

"  I  see,"  said  Van  Bibber.  He 
did  not  know  exactly  what  to  say 
next.  And  yet  he  wanted  to  talk 


FIRST  APPEARANCE 

to  the  child  very  much,  so  much 
more  than  he  generally  wanted  to 
talk  to  most  young  women,  who 
showed  no  hesitation  in  talking  to 
him.  With  them  he  had  no  diffi 
culty  whatsoever.  There  was  a  doll 
lying  on  the  top  of  a  chest  near  them, 
and  he  picked  this  up  and  surveyed 
it  critically.  "  Is  this  your  doll  ?  " 
he  asked. 

"  No,"  said  Madeline,  pointing  to 
one  of  the  children,  who  was  much 
taller  than  herself;  "it  's  'at  'ittle 
durl's.  My  doll  he  's  dead." 

"Dear  me!"  said  Van  Bibber. 
He  made  a  mental  note  to  get  a  live 
one  in  the  morning,  and  then  he  said  : 
"  That  's  very  sad.  But  dead  dolls 
do  come  to  life." 

The  little  girl  looked  up  at  him, 
and  surveyed  him  intently  and  criti 
cally,  and  then  smiled,  with  the 
dimples  showing,  as  much  as  to  say 
that  she  understood  him  and  ap 
proved  of  him  entirely.  Van  Bibber 
20 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 


answered  this  sign  language  by  tak 
ing  Madeline's  hand  in  his  and  ask 
ing  her  how  she  liked  being  a  great 
actress,  and  how  soon  she  would 
begin  to  storm  because  that  pho 
tographer  had  n't  sent  the  proofs. 
The  young  woman  understood  this, 
and  deigned  to  smile  at  it,  but  Mad 
eline  yawned  a  very  polite  and 
sleepy  yawn,  and  closed  her  eyes. 
Van  Bibber  moved  up  closer,  and 
she  leaned  over  until  her  bare  shoul 
der  touched  his  arm,  and  while  the 
woman  buttoned  on  her  absurdly 
small  shoes,  she  let  her  curly  hea 
fall  on  his  elbow  and  rest  there. 
Any  number  of  people  had  shown 
confidence  in  Van  Bibber — not  in 
that  form  exactly,  but  in  the  same 
spirit — and  though  he  was  used  to 
being  trusted,  he  felt  a  sharp  thrill 
of  pleasure  at  the  touch  of  the  child's 
head  on  his  arm,  and  in  the  warm 
clasp  of  her  fingers  around  his.  And 
he  was  conscious  of  a  keen  sense  of 

21 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 

pity  and  sorrow  for  her  rising  in  him, 
which  he  crushed  by  thinking  that  it 
was  entirely  wasted,  and  that  the 
child  was  probably  perfectly  and 
ignorantly  happy. 

'  Look  at  that,  now,"  said  the 
wardrobe  woman,  catching  sight  of 
the  child's  closed  eyelids;  '"  just 
look  at  the  rest  of  the  little  dears, 
all  that  excited  they  can't  stand  still 
to  get  their  hats  on,  and  she  just  as 
unconcerned  as  you  please,  and  after 
making  the  hit  of  the  piece,  too." 

She  's  not  used  to  it,  you  see," 
said  the  young  woman,  knowingly; 
"  she  don't  know  what  it  means. 
It  's  just  that  much  play  to  her." 

This  last  was  said  with  a  question 
ing  glance  at  Van  Bibber,  in  whom 
she  still  feared  to  find  the  disguised 
agent  of  a  Children's  Aid  Society. 
Van  Bibber  only  nodded  in  reply, 
and  did  not  answer  her,  because  he 
found  he  could  not  very  well,  for  he 
was  looking  a  long  way  ahead  at 


22 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 

what  the  future  was  to  bring  to  the 
confiding  little  being  at  his  side,  and 
thinking  of  the  evil  knowledge  and 
temptations  that  would  mar  the 
beauty  of  her  quaintly  sweet  face, 
and  its  strange  mark  of  gentleness 
and  refinement.  Outside  he  could 
hear  his  friend  Lester  shouting  the 
refrain  of  his  new  topical  song,  and 
the  laughter  and  the  hand-clapping 
came  in  through  the  wings  and  open 
door,  broken  but  tumultuous. 

"  Does  she  come  of  professional 
people  ?"  Van  Bibber  asked,  drop 
ping  into  the  vernacular.  He  spoke 
softly,  not  so  much  that  he  might 
not  disturb  the  child,  but  that  she 
might  not  understand  what  he  said. 
'  Yes,"  the  woman  answered, 
shortly,  and  bent  her  head  to  smooth 
out  the  child's  stage  dress  across  her 
knees. 

Van  Bibber  touched  the  little  girl's 
head  with  his  hand  and  found  that 
she  was  asleep,  and  so  let  his  hand 

23 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 

rest  there,  with  the  curls  between 
his  fingers.  "Are  —  are  you  her 
mother?"  he  asked,  with  a  slight 
inclination  of  his  head.  He  felt 
quite  confident  she  was  not ;  at 
least,  he  hoped  not. 

The     woman    shook     her     head.. 
'  No,"  she  said. 

'  Who  is  her  mother  ?  " 

The  woman  looked  at  the  sleeping 
child  and  then  up  at  him  almost 
defiantly.  "  Ida  Clare  was  her 
mother,"  she  said. 

Van  Bibber's  protecting  hand  left 
the  child  as  suddenly  as  though 
something  had  burned  it,  and  he 
drew  back  so  quickly  that  her  head 
slipped  from  his  arm,  and  she  awoke 
and  raised  her  eyes  and  looked  up  at 
him  questioningly.  He  looked  back 
at  her  with  a  glance  of  the  strangest 
concern  and  of  the  deepest  pity. 
Then  he  stooped  and  drew  her  to 
wards  him  very  tenderly,  put  her  head 
back  in  the  corner  of  his  arm,  and 
24 


: 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 

watched  her  in  silence  while  she 
smiled  drowsily  and  went  to  sleep 
again. 

"  And    who    takes    care    of    her 
now  ?  "   he  asked. 

The  woman  straightened  herself 
and  seemed  relieved.  She  saw  that 
the  stranger  had  recognized  the 
child's  pedigree  and  knew  her  story, 
and  that  he  was  not  going  to  com 
ment  on  it.  "I  do,"  she  said, 
"After  the  divorce  Ida  came  to  me," 
she  said,  speaking  more  freely.  "  I 
used  to  be  in  her  company  when  she 
was  doing  'Aladdin,'  and  then  when 
I  left  the  stage  and  started  to  keep 
an  actors'  boarding-house,  she  came 
to  me.  She  lived  on  with  us  a  year, 
until  she  died,  and  she  made  me  the 
guardian  of  the  child.  I  train  chil 
dren  for  the  stage,  you  know,  me 
and  my  sister,  Ada  Dyer;  you  've 
heard  of  her,  I  guess.  The  courts 
pay  us  for  her  keep,  but  it  is  n't 
much,  and  I  'm  expecting  to  get 

25 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 

what  I  spent  on  her  from  what  she 
makes  on  the  stage.  Two  of  them 
other  children  are  my  pupils;  but 
they  can't  touch  Madie.  She  is  a 
better  dancer  an'  singer  than  any  of 
them.  If  it  had  n't  been  for  the 
Society  keeping  her  back,  she  would 
have  been  on  the  stage  two  years 
ago.  She  's  great,  she  is.  She  '11 
be  just  as  good  as  her  mother 
was. ' ' 

Van  Bibber  gave  a  little  start,  and 
winced  visibly,  but  turned  it  off  into 
a  cough.  "  And  her  father,"  he 
said  hesitatingly,  "  does  he — " 

"  Her  father,"  said  the  woman, 
tossing  back  her  head,  "  he  looks 
after  himself,  he  does.  We  don't 
ask  no  favors  of  him.  She  '11 
get  along  without  him  or  his  folks, 
thank  you.  Call  him  a  gentleman  ? 
Nice  gentleman  he  is  !  "  Then 
she  stopped  abruptly.  "  I  guess, 
though,  you  know  him,"  she  added. 
"  Perhaps  he  's  a  friend  of  yourn  ?  " 
26 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 

'  I  just  know  him,"  said  Van 
Bibber,  wearily. 

He  sat  with  the  child  asleep  beside 
him  while  the  woman  turned  to  the 
others  and  dressed  them  for  the  third 
act.  She  explained  that  Madie 
would  not  appear  in  the  last  act, 
only  the  two  larger  girls,  so  she  let 
her  sleep,  with  the  cape  of  Van 
Bibber's  cloak  around  her. 

Van  Bibber  sat  there  for  several 
long  minutes  thinking,  and  then 
looked  up  quickly,  and  dropped  his 
eyes  again  as  quickly,  and  said,  with 
an  effort  to  speak  quietly  and  un 
concernedly:  "  If  the  little  girl  is 
not  on  in  this  act,  would  you  mind 
if  I  took  her  home  ?  I  have  a  cab 
at  the  stage  door,  and  she  's  so 
sleepy  it  seems  a  pity  to  keep  her 
up.  The  sister  you  spoke  of  or 
some  one  could  put  her  to  bed." 

'  Yes,"  the  woman  said,  doubt 
fully,  "  Ada  's  home.  Yes,  you  can 
take  her  around,  if  you  want  to." 

27 


FIRST  APPEARANCE 

She  gave  him  the  address,  and  he 
sprang  down  to  the  floor,  and  gath 
ered  the  child  up  in  his  arms  and 
stepped  out  on  the  stage.  The 
prima  donna  had  the  centre  of  it  to 
herself  at  that  moment,  and  all  the 
rest  of  the  company  were  waiting  to 
go  on ;  but  when  they  saw  the  little 
girl  in  Van  Bibber's  arms  they  made 
a  rush  at  her,  and  the  girls  leaned 
over  and  kissed  her  with  a  great 
show  of  rapture  and  with  many  gasps 
of  delight. 

Don't,"    said    Van    Bibber,   he 
could  not  tell  just  why.     "  Don't." 
'  Why  not  ?"  asked  one  of  the 
girls,  looking  up  at  him  sharply. 

"  She  was  asleep;  you  've  wakened 
her,"  he  said,  gently. 

But  he  knew  that  was  not  the 
reason.  He  stepped  into  the  cab  at 
the  stage  entrance,  and  put  the  child 
carefully  down  in  one  corner.  Then 
he  looked  back  over  his  shoulder  to 
see  that  there  was  no  one  near  enough 
28 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 

to  hear  him,  and  said  to  the  driver, 
"  To  the  Berkeley  Flats,  on  Fifth 
Avenue."  He  picked  the  child  up 
gently  in  his  arms  as  the  carriage 
started,  and  sat  looking  out  thought 
fully  and  anxiously  as  they  flashed 
past  the  lighted  shop-windows  on 
Broadway.  He  was  far  from  certain 
of  this  errand,  and  nervous  with 
doubt,  but  he  reassured  himself  that 
he  was  acting  on  impulse,  and  that 
his  impulses  were  so  often  good. 
The  hall-boy  at  the  Berkeley  said, 
yes,  Mr.  Caruthers  was  in,  and  Van 
Bibber  gave  a  quick  sigh  of  relief. 
He  took  this  as  an  omen  that  his 
impulse  was  a  good  one.  The  young 
English  servant  who  opened  the  hall 
door  to  Mr.  Caruthers's  apartment 
suppressed  his  surprise  with  an  ef 
fort,  and  watched  Van  Bibber  with 
alarm  as  he  laid  the  child  on  the 
divan  in  the  hall,  and  pulled  a  cov 
ert  coat  from  the  rack  to  throw  over 
her. 

29 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 

1  Just  say  Mr.  Van  Bibber  would 
like  to  see  him,"  he  said,  "  and  you 
need  not  speak  of  the  little  girl  hav 
ing  come  with  me." 

She  was  still  sleeping,  and  Van 
Bibber  turned  down  the  light  in  the 
hall,  and  stood  looking  down  at  her 
gravely  while  the  servant  went  to 
speak  to  his  master. 

'  Will  you  come  this  way,  please, 
sir  ?  "  he  said. 

"  You  had  better  stay  out  here," 
said  Van  Bibber,  "  and  come  and 
tell  me  if  she  wakes." 

Mr.  Caruthers  was  standing  by  the 
mantel  over  the  empty  fireplace, 
wrapped  in  a  long,  loose  dressing- 
gown  which  he  was  tying  around 
him  as  Van  Bibber  entered.  He 
was  partly  undressed,  and  had  been 
just  on  the  point  of  getting  into  bed. 
Mr.  Caruthers  was  a  tall,  handsome 
man,  with  dark  reddish  hair,  turning 
below  the  temples  into  gray;  his 
mustache  was  quite  white,  and  his 

3° 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 

eyes  and  face  showed  the  signs  of 
either  dissipation  or  of  great  trouble, 
or  of  both.  But  even  in  the  form 
less  dressing-gown  he  had  the  look 
and  the  confident  bearing  of  a  gentle 
man,  or,  at  least,  of  the  man  of  the 
world.  The  room  was  very  rich- 
looking,  and  was  filled  with  the 
medley  of  a  man's  choice  of  good 
paintings  and  fine  china,  and  papered 
with  irregular  rows  of  original  draw 
ings  and  signed  etchings.  The  win 
dows  were  open,  and  the  lights  were 
turned  very  low,  so  that  Van  Bibber 
could  see  the  many  gas  lamps  and 
the  dark  roofs  of  Broadway  and  the 
Avenue  where  they  crossed  a  few 
blocks  off,  and  the  bunches  of  light 
on  the  Madison  Square  Garden,  and 
to  the  lights  on  the  boats  of  the  East 
River.  From  below  in  the  streets 
came  the  rattle  of  hurrying  omni 
buses  and  the  rush  of  the  hansom 
cabs.  If  Mr.  Caruthers  was  surprised 
at  this  late  visit,  he  hid  it,  and  came 


/ 


r 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 

forward  to  receive  his  caller  as  if  his 
presence  were  expected. 

"  Excuse  my  costume,  will  you  ?  " 
he  said.  "  I  turned  in  rather  early 
to-night,  it  was  so  hot. "  He  pointed 
to  a  decanter  and  some  soda  bottles 
on  the  table  and  a  bowl  of  ice,  and 
asked,  "  Will  you  have  some  of 
this  ?"  And  while  he  opened  one 
of  the  bottles,  he  watched  Van  Bib 
ber's  face  as  though  he  were  curious 
to  have  him  explain  the  object  of  his 
visit. 

"  No,  I  think  not,  thank  you," 
said  the  younger  man.  He  touched 
his  forehead  with  his  handkerchief 
nervously.  "  Yes,  it  is  hot,"  he 
said. 

Mr.  Caruthers  filled  a  glass  with 
ice  and  brandy  and  soda,  and  walked 
back  to  his  place  by  the  mantel,  on 
which  he  rested  his  arm,  while  he 
clinked  the  ice  in  the  glass  and 
looked  down  into  it. 

"  I  was  at  the  first  night  of  '  The 

32 


"^«^- 


& 

r 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 

Sultana'  this  evening,"  said  Van 
Bibber,  slowly  and  uncertainly. 

"  Oh,  yes,"  assented  the  elder 
man,  politely,  and  tasting  his  drink. 
"  Lester's  new  piece.  Was  it  any 
good  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Van  Bibber. 
"  Yes,  I  think  it  was.  I  did  n't  see 
it  from  the  front.  There  were  a  lot 
of  children  in  it — little  ones;  they 
danced  and  sang,  and  made  a  great 
hit.  One  of  them  had  never  been 
on  the  stage  before.  It  was  her 
first  appearance." 

He  was  turning  one  of  the  glasses 
around  between  his  fingers  as  he 
spoke.  He  stopped,  and  poured 
out  some  of  the  soda,  and  drank  it 
down  in  a  gulp,  and  then  continued 
turning  the  empty  glass  between  the 
tips  of  his  fingers. 

"  It  seems  to  me,"  he  said,  "  that 
it  is  a  great  pity."  He  looked  up 
interrogatively  at  the  other,  but  Mr. 
Caruthers  met  his  glance  without 

33    ' 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 

any  returning  show  of  interest.  "  I 
say,"  repeated  Van  Bibber — "  I  say 
it  seems  a  pity  that  a  child  like  that 
should  be  allowed  to  go  on  in  that 
business.  A  grown  woman  can  go 
into  it  with  her  eyes  open,  or  a  girl 
who  has  had  decent  training  can  too. 
But  it 's  different  with  a  child.  She 
has  no  choice  in  the  matter;  they 
don't  ask  her  permission;  and  she 
is  n't  old  enough  to  know  what  it 
means;  and  she  gets  used  to  it  and 
fond  of  it  before  she  grows  to  know 
what  the  danger  is.  And  then  it  's 
too  late.  It  seemed  to  me  that  if 
there  was  any  one  who  had  a  right 
to  stop  it,  it  would  be  a  very  good 
thing  to  let  that  person  know  about 
her — about  this  child,  I  mean;  the 
one  who  made  the  hit — before  it  was 
too  late.  It  seems  to  me  a  respon 
sibility  I  would  n't  care  to  take  my 
self.  I  would  n't  care  to  think  that 
I  had  the  chance  to  stop  it,  and  had 
let  the  chance  go  by.  You  know 

34 


•  W     'J? 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 

what  the  life  is,  and  what  the  tempta 
tion  a  woman — "  Van  Bibber  stopped 
with  a  gasp  of  concern,  and  added, 
hurriedly,  "  I  mean  we  all  know — 
every  man  knows." 

Mr.  Caruthers  was  looking  at  him 
with  his  lips  pressed  closely  together, 
and  his  eyebrows  drawn  into  the 
shape  of  the  letter  V.  He  leaned 
forward,  and  looked  at  Van  Bibber 
intently. 

'What  is  all  this  about?"  he 
asked.  "  Did  you  come  here,  Mr. 
Van  Bibber,  simply  to  tell  me  this  ? 
What  have  you  to  do  with  it  ?  What 
have  I  to  do  with  it  ?  Why  did  you 
come  ?  " 

Because  of  the  child." 

"  What  child  ?" 

"  Your  child,"  said  Van  Bibber. 

Young  Van  Bibber  was  quite  pre 
pared  for  an  outbreak  of  some  sort, 
and  mentally  braced  himself  to  re 
ceive  it.  He  rapidly  assured  himself 
that  this  man  had  every  reason  to  be 

35 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 

angry,  and  that  he,  if  he  meant  to 
accomplish  anything,  had  every 
reason  to  be  considerate  and  pa 
tient.  So  he  faced  Mr.  Caruthers 
with  shoulders  squared,  as  though  it 
were  a  physical  shock  he  had  to 
stand  against,  and  in  consequence 
he  was  quite  unprepared  for  what 
followed.  For  Mr.  Caruthers  raised 
his  face  without  a  trace  of  feeling  in 
it,  and,  with  his  eyes  still  fixed  on 
the  glass  in  his  hand,  set  it  carefully 
down  on  the  mantel  beside  him,  and 
girded  himself  about  with  the  rope 
of  his  robe.  When  he  spoke,  it  was 
in  a  tone  of  quiet  politeness. 

"  Mr.  Van  Bibber,"  he  began, 
"  you  are  a  very  brave  young  man. 
You  have  dared  to  say  to  me  what 
those  who  are  my  best  friends — what 
even  my  own  family — would  not  care 
to  say.  They  are  afraid  it  might 
hurt  me,  I  suppose.  They  have 
some  absurd  regard  for  my  feelings ; 
they  hesitate  to  touch  upon  a  subject 

36 


' 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 

which  in  no  way  concerns  them, 
and  which  they  know  must  be  very 
painful  to  me.  But  you  have  the 
courage  of  your  convictions;  you 
have  no  compunctions  about  tearing 
open  old  wounds;  and  you  come 
here,  unasked  and  uninvited,  to  let 
me  know  what  you  think  of  my  con 
duct,  to  let  me  understand  that  it 
does  not  agree  with  your  own  ideas 
of  what  I  ought  to  do,  and  to  tell 
me  how  I,  who  am  old  enough  to  be 
your  father,  should  behave.  You 
have  rushed  in  where  angels  fear  to 
tread,  Mr.  Van  Bibber,  to  show  me 
the  error  of  my  ways.  I  suppose  I 
ought  to  thank  you  for  it ;  but  I 
have  always  said  that  it  is  not  the 
wicked  people  who  are  to  be  feared 
in  this  world,  or  who  do  the  most 
harm.  We  know  them ;  we  can 
prepare  for  them,  and  checkmate 
them.  It  is  the  well-meaning  fool 
who  makes  all  the  trouble.  For  no 
one  knows  him  until  he  discloses 

37 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 

himself,  and  the  mischief  is  done  be 
fore  he  can  be  stopped.  I  think,  if 
you  will  allow  me  to  say  so,  that  you 
have  demonstrated  my  theory  pretty 
thoroughly,  and  have  done  about  as 
much  needless  harm  for  one  evening 
as  you  can  possibly  wish.  And  so, 
if  you  will  excuse  me,"  he  continued, 
sternly,  and  moving  from  his  place, 
"  I  will  ask  to  say  good-night,  and 
will  request  of  you  that  you  grow 
older  and  wiser  and  much  more  con 
siderate  before  you  come  to  see  me 
again." 

Van  Bibber  had  flushed  at  Mr. 
Caruthers's  first  words,  and  had 
then  grown  somewhat  pale,  and 
straightened  himself  visibly.  He 
did  not  move  when  the  elder  man 
had  finished,  but  cleared  his  throat, 
and  then  spoke  with  some  little  diffi 
culty.  "It  is  very  easy  to  call  a 
man  a  fool,"  he  said,  slowly,  "  but 
it  is  much  harder  to  be  called  a  fool 
and  not  to  throw  the  other  man  out 

38 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 


of  the  window.  But  that,  you  see, 
would  not  do  any  good,  and  I  have 
something  to  say  to  you  first.  I  am 
quite  clear  in  my  own  mind  as  to  my 
position,  and  I  am  not  going  to  allow 
anything  you  have  said  or  can  say  to 
annoy  me  much  until  I  am  through. 
There  will  be  time  enough  to  resent 
it  then.  I  am  quite  well  aware  that  I 
did  an  unconventional  thing  in  com 
ing  here — a  bold  thing  or  a  foolish 
thing,  as  you  choose — but  the  situ 
ation  is  pretty  bad,  and  I  did  as  I 
would  have  wished  to  be  done  by  if  I 
had  had  a  child  going  to  the  devil  and 
did  n't  know  it.  I  should  have  been 
glad  to  learn  of  it  even  from  a 
stranger.  However,"  he  said,  smiling 
grimly,  and  pulling  his  cape  about 
him,"  there  are  other  kindly  disposed 
people  in  the  world  besides  fathers. 
There  is  an  aunt,  perhaps,  or  an  uncle 
or  two;  and  sometimes,  even  to-day, 
there  is  the  chance  Samaritan." 
Van  Bibber  picked  up  his  high  hat 

39 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 


from  the  table,  looked  into  it  criti 
cally,  and  settled  it  on  his  head. 
"  Good-night,"  he  said,  and  walked 
slowly  towards  the  door.  He  had 
his  hand  on  the  knob,  when  Mr. 
Caruthers  raised  his  head. 

"  Wait  just  one  minute,  please, 
Mr.  Van  Bibber  ?  "  asked  Mr.  Car- 
uthers. 

Van  Bibber  stopped  with  a  prompt 
obedience  which  would  have  led  one 
to  conclude  that  he  might  have  put 
on  his  hat  only  to  precipitate  matters. 

"  Before  you  go,"  said  Mr.  Car 
uthers,  grudgingly,  "  I  want  to  say 
—  I  want  you  to  understand  my  posi 
tion." 

"  Oh,  that  's  all  right,"  said  Van 
Bibber,  lightly,  opening  the  door. 

"  No,  it  is  not  all  right.  One  mo 
ment,  please.  I  do  not  intend  that 
you  shall  go  away  from  here  with 
the  idea  that  you  have  tried  to  do 
me  a  service,  and  that  I  have  been 
unable  to  appreciate  it,  and  that  you 
40 

iU 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 

are  a  much-abused  and  much-misun 
derstood  young  man.  Since  you  have 
done  me  the  honor  to  make  my  af 
fairs  your  business,  I  would  prefer  that 
you  should  understand  them  fully. 
I  do  not  care  to  have  you  discuss  my 
conduct  at  clubs  and  afternoon  teas 
with  young  women  until  you — " 

Van  Bibber  drew  in  his  breath 
sharply,  with  a  peculiar  whistling 
sound,  and  opened  and  shut  his 
hands.  "  Oh,  I  would  n't  say  that 
if  I  were  you,"  he  said,  simply. 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,"  the  older 
man  said,  quickly.  "  That  was  a 
mistake.  I  was  wrong.  I  beg  your 
pardon.  But  you  have  tried  me 
very  sorely.  You  have  intruded 
upon  a  private  trouble  that  you 
ought  to  know  must  be  very  painful 
to  me.  But  I  believe  you  meant 
well.  I  know  you  to  be  a  gentle 
man,  and  I  am  willing  to  think  you 
acted  on  impulse,  and  that  you  will 
see  to-morrow  what  a  mistake  you 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 


have  made.  It  is  not  a  thing  I  talk 
about;  I  do  not  speak  of  it  to  my 
friends,  and  they  are  far  too  consid 
erate  to  speak  of  it  to  me.  But  you 
have  put  me  on  the  defensive.  You 
have  made  me  out  more  or  less  of  a 
brute,  and  I  don't  intend  to  be  so 
far  misunderstood.  There  are  two 
sides  to  every  story,  and  there  is 
something  to  be  said  about  this, 
even  for  me." 

He  walked  back  to  his  place  beside 
the  mantel,  and  put  his  shoulders 
against  it,  and  faced  Van  Bibber, 
with  his  fingers  twisted  in  the  cord 
around  his  waist. 

'  When  I  married,"  said  Mr. 
Caruthers,  "  I  did  so  against  the 
wishes  of  my  people  and  the  advice 
of  all  my  friends.  You  know  all 
about  that.  God  help  us!  who 
does  n't  ?  "  he  added,  bitterly.  "  It 
was  very  rich,  rare  reading  for  you 
and  for  every  one  else  who  saw  the 
daily  papers,  and  we  gave  them  all 

42 


K 
I 

ii 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 

they  wanted  of  it.  I  took  her  out 
of  that  life  and  married  her  because 
I  believed  she  was  as  good  a  woman 
as  any  of  those  who  had  never  had 
to  work  for  their  living,  and  I  was 
bound  that  my  friends  and  your 
friends  should  recognize  her  and  re 
spect  her  as  my  wife  had  a  right  to 
be  respected  ;  and  I  took  her  abroad 
that  I  might  give  all  you  sensitive, 
fine  people  a  chance  to  get  used  to 
the  idea  of  being  polite  to  a  woman 
who  had  once  been  a  burlesque 
actress.  It  began  over  there  in 
Paris.  What  I  went  through  then 
no  one  knows;  but  when  I  came 
back — and  I  would  never  have  come 
back  if  she  had  not  made  me — it  was 
my  friends  I  had  to  consider,  and 
not  her.  It  was  in  the  blood ;  it 
was  in  the  life  she  had  led,  and  in 
the  life  men  like  you  and  me  had 
taught  her  to  live.  And  it  had  to 
come  out." 

The   muscles  of  Mr.   Caruthers's 

43 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 

face  were  moving,  and  beyond  his 
control;  but  Van  Bibber  did  not  see 
this,  for  he  was  looking  intently  out 
of  the  window,  over  the  roofs  of  the 
city. 

She  had  every  chance  when  she 
married  me  that  a  woman  ever  had," 
continued  the  older  man.  "  It  only 
depended  on  herself.  I  did  n't  try 
to  make  a  housewife  of  her  or  a 
drudge.  She  had  all  the  healthy 
excitement  and  all  the  money  she 
wanted,  and  she  had  a  home  here 
ready  for  her  whenever  she  was  tired 
of  travelling  about  and  wished  to 
settle  down.  And  I  was  —  and  a 
husband  that  loved  her  as — she  had 
everything — everything  that  a  man's 
whole  thought  and  love  and  money 
could  bring  to  her.  And  you  know 
what  she  did." 

He  looked  at  Van  Bibber,  but  Van 
Bibber's  eyes  were  still  turned  to 
wards  the  open  window  and  the 
night. 

44 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 
fl) 

"  And  after  the  divorce — and  she 
was  free  to  go  where  she  pleased, 
and  to  live  as  she  pleased  and  with 
whom  she  pleased,  without  bringing 
disgrace  on  a  husband  who  honestly 
loved  her — I  swore  to  my  God  that 
I  would  never  see  her  nor  her  child 
again.  And  I  never  saw  her  again, 
not  even  when  she  died.  I  loved 
the  mother,  and  she  deceived  me 
and  disgraced  me  and  broke  my 
heart,  and  I  only  wish  she  had  killed 
me ;  and  I  was  beginning  to  love  her 
child,  and  I  vowed  she  should  not 
live  to  trick  me  too.  I  had  suffered 
as  no  man  I  know  had  suffered ;  in 
a  way  a  boy  like  you  cannot  under 
stand,  and  that  no  one  can  under 
stand  who  has  not  gone  to  hell  and 
been  forced  to  live  after  it.  And 
was  I  to  go  through  that  again  ? 
Was  I  to  love  and  care  for  and  wor 
ship  this  child,  and  have  her  grow 
up  with  all  her  mother's  vanity  and 
animal  nature,  and  have  her  turn  on 

45 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 

me  some  day  and  show  me  that  what 
is  bred  in  the  bone  must  tell,  and 
that  I  was  a  fool  again — a  pitiful 
fond  fool  ?  I  could  not  trust  her.  I 
can  never  trust  any  woman  or  child 
again,  and  least  of  all  that  woman's 
child.  She  is  as  dead  to  me  as 
though  she  were  buried  with  her 
mother,  and  it  is  nothing  to  me 
what  she  is  or  what  her  life  is.  I 
know  in  time  what  it  will  be.  She 
has  begun  earlier  than  I  had  sup 
posed,  that  is  all ;  but  she  is  nothing 
to  me."  The  man  stopped  and 
turned  his  back  to  Van  Bibber,  and 
hid  his  head  in  his  hands,  with  his 
elbows  on  the  mantelpiece.  "  I  care 
too  much,"  he  said.  "  I  cannot  let 
it  mean  anything  to  me;  when  I  do 
care,  it  means  so  much  more  to  me 
than  to  other  men.  They  may  pre 
tend  to  laugh  and  to  forget  and  to 
outgrow  it,  but  it  is  not  so  with 
me.  It  means  too  much."  Retook 
a  quick  stride  towards  one  of  the 
46 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 


arm-chairs,  and  threw  himself  into  it. 
"  Why,  man,"  he  cried,  "  I  loved 
that  child's  mother  to  the  day  of  her 
death.  I  loved  that  woman  then, 
and,  God  help  me  !  I  love  that 
woman  still." 

He  covered  his  face  with  his  hands, 
and  sat  leaning  forward  and  breath 
ing  heavily  as  he  rocked  himself  to 
and  fro.  Van  Bibber  still  stood 
looking  gravely  out  at  the  lights  that 
picketed  the  black  surface  of  the  city. 
He  was  to  all  appearances  as  un 
moved  by  the  outburst  of  feeling 
into  which  the  older  man  had  been 
surprised  as  though  it  had  been 
something  in  a  play.  There  was  an 
unbroken  silence  for  a  moment,  and 
then  it  was  Van  Bibber  who  was  the 
first  to  speak. 

"  I  came  here,  as  you  say,  on  im 
pulse,"  he  said;  "  but  I  am  glad  I 
came,  for  I  have  your  decisive  an 
swer  now  about  the  little  girl.  I 
have  been  thinking,"  he  continued, 

47 


f'ST^sii, — *"""• 

'"ra^-S^ 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 

slowly,  "  since  you  have  been  speak 
ing,  and  before,  when  I  first  saw  her 
dancing  in  front  of  the  footlights, 
when  I  did  not  know  who  she  was, 
that  I  could  give  up  a  horse  or  two, 
if  necessary,  and  support  this  child 
instead.  Children  are  worth  more 
than  horses,  and  a  man  who  saves  a 
soul,  as  it  says  " — he  flushed  slightly, 
and  looked  up  with  a  hesitating,  dep 
recatory  smile — "  somewhere,  wipes 
out  a  multitude  of  sins.  And  it  may 
be  I  'd  like  to  try  and  get  rid  of  some 
of  mine.  I  know  just  where  to  send 
her;  I  know  the  very  place.  It  's 
down  in  Evergreen  Bay,  on  Long 
Island.  They  are  tenants  of  mine 
there,  and  very  nice  farm  sort  of 
people,  who  will  be  very  good  to 
her.  They  would  n't  know  any 
thing  about  her,  and  she  'd  forget 
what  little  she  knows  of  this  present 
life  very  soon,  and  grow  up  with  the 
other  children  to  be  one  of  them ; 
and  then,  when  she  gets  older  and 
48 


Jl 
V' 


'  fIXST  APPEARANCE 


becomes  a  young  lady,  she  could  go 
to  some  school — but  that 's  a  bit  too 
far  ahead  to  plan  for  the  present ; 
but  that  's  what  I  am  going  to  do, 
though,"  said  the  young  man,  con 
fidently,  and  as  though  speaking  to 
himself.  ' '  That  theatrical  boarding- 
house  person  could  be  bought  off 
easily  enough,"  he  went  on,  quickly, 
"  and  Lester  won't  mind  letting  her 
go  if  I  ask  it, — and — and  that  's  what 
I  '11  do.  As  you  say,  it  's  a  good 
deal  of  an  experiment,  but  I  think 
I  '11  run  the  risk." 

He  walked  quickly  to  the  door  and 
disappeared  in  the  hall,  and  then 
came  back,  kicking  the  door  open  as 
he  returned,  and  holding  the  child 
in  his  arms. 

4  This  is  she,"  he  said,  quietly. 
He  did  not  look  at  or  notice  the 
father,  but  stood,  with  the  child 
asleep  in  the  bend  of  his  left  arm. 
gazing  down  at  her.  "  This  is  she," 
he  repeated;  "  this  is  your  child." 

49 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 

There  was  something  cold  and 
satisfied  in  Van  Bibber's  tone  and 
manner,  as  though  he  were  con 
gratulating  himself  upon  the  engag 
ing  of  a  new  groom  ;  something  that 
placed  the  father  entirely  outside  of 
it.  He  might  have  been  a  disinter 
ested  looker-on. 

"  She  will  need  to  be  fed  a  bit," 
Van  Bibber  ran  on,  cheerfully. 
"  They  did  not  treat  her  very  well, 
I  fancy.  She  is  thin  and  peaked  and 
tired-looking."  He  drew  up  the 
loose  sleeve  of  her  jacket,  and 
showed  the  bare  forearm  to  the  light. 
He  put  his  thumb  and  little  finger 
about  it,  and  closed  them  on  it 
gently.-  "  It  is  very  thin,"  he  said. 
"  And  under  her  eyes,  if  it  were  not 
for  the  paint,"  he  went  on,  merci 
lessly,  "  you  could  see  how  deep  the 
lines  are.  This  red  spot  on  her 
cheek,"  he  said,  gravely,  "  is  where 
Mary  Vane  kissed  her  to-night,  and 
this  is  where  Alma  Stantley  kissed 

5° 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 

her,  and  that  Lee  girl.  You  have 
heard  of  them,  perhaps.  They  will 
never  kiss  her  again.  She  is  going 
to  grow  up  a  sweet,  fine,  beautiful 
woman — are  you  not  ?  "  he  said, 
gently  drawing  the  child  higher  up 
on  his  shoulder,  until  her  face 
touched  his,  and  still  keeping  his 
eyes  from  the  face  of  the  older  man. 
' '  She  does  not  look  like  her  mother, 
he  said  ;  "  she  has  her  father's  auburn 
hair  and  straight  nose  and  finer-cut 
lips  and  chin.  She  looks  very  much 
like  her  father.  It  seems  a  pity," 
he  added,  abruptly.  "  She  will  grow 
up,"  he  went  on,  "  without  know 
ing  him,  or  who  he  is — or  was,  if  he 
should  die.  She  will  never  speak 
with  him,  or  see  him,  or  take  his 
hand.  She  may  pass  him  some  day 
on  the  street  and  will  not  know  him, 
and  he  will  not  know  her,  but  she 
will  grow  to  be  very  fond  and  to  be 
very  grateful  to  the  simple,  kind- 
hearted  old  people  who  will  have 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 

cared  for  her  when  she  was  a  little 
girl." 

The  child  in  his  arms  stirred, 
shivered  slightly,  and  awoke.  The 
two  men  watched  her  breathlessly, 
with  silent  intentness.  She  raised 
her  head  and  stared  around  the  un 
familiar  room  doubtfully,  then  turned 
to  where  her  father  stood,  looking 
at  him  a  moment,  and  passed  him 
by;  and  then,  looking  up  into  Van 
Bibber's  face,  recognized  him,  and 
gave  a  gentle,  sleepy  smile,  and,  with 
a  sigh  of  content  and  confidence, 
drew  her  arm  up  closer  around  his 
neck,  and  let  her  head  fall  back  upon 
his  breast. 

The  father  sprang  to  his  feet  with 
a  quick,  jealous  gasp  of  pain.  ' '  Give 
her  to  me  !  "  he  said,  fiercely,  under 
his  breath,  snatching  her  out  of  Van 
Bibber's  arms.  "  She  is  mine;  give 
her  to  me!  " 

Van  Bibber  closed  the  door  gently 
behind  him,  and  went  jumping  down 

52 


7 


HER  FIRST  APPEARANCE 


the  winding  stairs  of  the  Berkeley 
three  steps  at  a  time. 

And  an  hour  later,  when  the  Eng 
lish  servant  came  to  his  master's 
door,  he  found  him  still  awake  and 
sitting  in  the  dark  by  the  open  win 
dow,  holding  something  in  his  arms 
and  looking  out  over  the  sleeping 
city. 

"  James,"  he  said,  !<  you  can 
make  up  a  place  for  me  here  on  the 
lounge.  Miss  Caruthers,  my  daugh 
ter,  will  sleep  in  my  room  to-night." 


3  1970  01663  9327 


